JPMorgan Chase’s Dedication to Inclusion

Across the U.S. and around the world, too many people lack the tools and resources to manage their daily financial lives, weather unexpected emergencies, or plan for the future. Roughly 2 billion people, 38% of world’s poor, don’t have a bank account and more than 2.2 billion lack any formal savings, but we know that the problems go beyond a lack of bank account. They struggle with low savings, income and expense volatility, and lack of access to the products that they need to manage their financial lives. Instead, they rely on informal services to save and manage their financial needs that are often riskier and more expensive.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. understands that the negative impact of these problems goes beyond the household; it negatively affects communities and economic growth. Research shows that financial inclusion help individuals start and expand their businesses, increase education attainment and better manage unexpected financial emergencies. It also boosts productive investment and consumption, as well as helps reduce inequality and catalyze inclusive growth (CGAP and World Bank).

In the past, the response to this challenge was to implement traditional financial education and offer one-off financial products, such as bank accounts or microcredit alone. Evidence shows that for financial inclusion models to be effective, financial information must be timely, relevant, and ongoing and received at a point in time when an individual has the opportunity to convert the information to action. Individuals need access to a full range of financial products to save, manage risk and build wealth.

To help tackle this issue, JPMorgan Chase applies these insights through our work with nonprofits, corporate clients and financial technology companies to identify, test and scale the next generation of financial service products and services to promote financial health globally. For example, The Financial Solutions Lab, a $30 million, five-year initiative, managed by the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) sponsors competitions for financial technology innovators with products that help Americans better manage their household budgets.

Building off of the success of the Lab, JPMorgan Chase created the Catalyst Fund in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, Bankable Frontier Associates, Accion International, and Omidyar Network. The Catalyst Fund provides funding and mentorship to financial inclusion social entrepreneurs in emerging markets that offer breakthrough technology innovations to promote financial health globally.

JPMorgan Chase understands that nonprofits are great sources of innovation and consumer insights, as well as trusted partners to share new technology tools and offer additional support for the most vulnerable populations. Over the last two years, JPMorgan Chase has committed more than $40 million to nonprofits to support proven models for promoting financial health. In addition, we support partners that help evaluate and share insights from these programs in order to improve our collective efforts. Finally, JPMorgan Chase is leveraging the full assets of the firm, including capital, data, expertise in financial services and networks to help these partners maximize their impact.

These efforts are part of JPMorgan Chase’s broader efforts to facilitate inclusive economic growth.

Each of these components can help move the needle towards increased financial inclusion, but together, these programs support a robust ecosystem of providers to improve the financial health of consumers across the globe. To learn more about what we are learning through our financial inclusion efforts, including trends and best practices, visit jpmorganchase.com and the financial health page.